What To Do When Your Hot Tub Cover Gets Waterlogged

Sometimes you have a hot tub cover that functions beautifully rain or shine, holding off the fiercest hail, the densest mist and the sun’s most burning rays. Then suddenly, it appears to be wet through, and so heavy you can barely lift it. What has gone wrong? And what on earth can you do about it?

Try to Save Your Cover

The good news is you may be able to salvage some or all of your cover. If you notice immediately that it has become much heavier than it used to be and appears waterlogged, remove it from the top of the hot tub. This may require help so that you don’t lift more weight than is medically advisable. Once you’ve got the cover off, inspect it for rips or tears in the underside or on top that may account for water having gotten in.

Once you establish whether or not you have a tear, you have several choices. A very small rip can be sewn up. If the weather is dry outside or you have a warm garage, you can try leaning your cover against a wall and seeing if it dries out fully, in which case place it back on your spa and monitor it carefully for signs of returning dampness. If it never dries out, it should be replaced.

Replace Your Cover If It Can’t Be Saved

That’s the bad news: not all waterlogged spa covers can be saved. However, consider that a waterlogged cover actually pulls heat out of the spa 32 times faster than air alone. Replace the cover immediately to prevent this expensive waste on your heating bill. Plus, the even better news is you may not have to replace all of the cover. Although your foam inserts may be wet, the cover itself could very well turn out to be sound. Some online stores will allow you to purchase cover components or a complete cover, such as www.BeyondNice.com.

Before purchasing anything new, separate the foam inserts from the outer cover and see if the latter will dry out. If so, you need only new inserts. Keep in mind, shipping for replacement inserts is the same typically as buying a whole new cover. But if neither dries, or if the cover doesn’t look or smell the same once it is done drying, you are better of getting a new cover altogether.